Sometimes, you alter life. Sometimes, life alters you.

03/09/2011

Day 98: I Am Becoming Who I Want To Become

A gift for you, courtesy of Laina Seaberg Noe

Brown eggs with olive oil are a new treat for me. Admiringly, I watch them swirl around the pan, amongst onions and spinach. Their shells are heavier than their white predecessors. Their yolks firmer and larger. They taste softer, sweeter, and healthier, with their $3.50 price tag and their cage-free, organic, grain-fed stamp on the top of the carton. Beside them sits a perfectly scooped mound of Fage natural Greek yogurt with fresh pineapples, strawberries, and bananas. To their left, a crisp pile of thick cut bacon (the last of my guilty pleasures). It is a ritual I’ve learned to love in the morning. Once resistant to breakfast (at least before noon), I now enjoy the daily hum; Get up, let the dog out, swish coconut oil for 20 minutes, drink lemon water, take five types of herbs, drink vitamins, and eat breakfast (usually one hubby makes for me).

Afterwards, I make my way to the gym for a daily detoxing ritual. Brown brush out, vigorous strokes everywhere, from my toes to my face, scuffing up my body. Boldly, I go into the Sauna without my bathing suit. Covered only by two wash rag sized towels, I lay on the bench and start the countdown. 20 minutes, 19 minutes, 18 minutes... The temperature soars to 212 degrees. By minute 17, the sweat is pouring. Luckily, my book--Writing Down the Bones--somehow remains untouched.

As I read, Goldberg screams from the pages: “Write about your life.” “Do not edit.” She encourages me to dig for what’s actually there. Mid-sentence, I notice a pain in my left hand. It’s familiar--often reserved for my right side. The sweat continues to pour as I hold out for two final LONG minutes. 12:34, 12:35. With relief, I open the door, caught off guard by the air that smells slightly of pool water. Carefully, I step into the shower and turn the nozzle full blast. COLD, it reads...true to its word. For 60 seconds, I stand shivering and splashing doing my best to wipe away the sweat and the pain now present in different parts of my body.

Proudly, I make my way back to the locker. Suit on. Shorts on. Sweatshirt on. Three glasses of water later, I’m back home. I’ve done my job. Health started the day. I am becoming the person I've always wanted to become.

ALTER EVERYTHING What do you get when you combine a creative, Type A personality with Chronic Lyme Disease? A choice: A) Be swallowed whole or B) Reinvent yourself--daily.
Alter Everything is my quest to respect "A" and embrace "B" as much as possible. Here, I recount my daily adventures in pursuit of an altered life. –Kathy Tagudin